Follow us on

Alastair Campbell on the bagpipes may not sound like much of a spectacle, but this is a man drawn to “really powerful, dark emotion”, and he’s being asked to play a lament written for his father in front of 2,500 people in Glasgow.

Along the way, we get confessions from the former Labour director of communications about the problems of adjusting to life following a career in high politics, plus the strain the Iraq War put on his relationship with his partner, Fiona Millar, who worked as an adviser to Cherie Blair. Top it all off with a return to his dad’s Scottish island for the first time in 20 years and you have a recipe for high drama.

About this programme

5/6. Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell re-learns how to play the bagpipes, before performing to an audience of 2,000 at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall.